Time Travelers: Exploring Our Past and Present · 2nd Year

Active learning ideas

Daily Life in a Cottage

Active learning through role-play and hands-on tasks helps second-year students grasp the physical realities of daily life in a traditional Irish cottage. Experiencing chores firsthand builds empathy and clarifies how modern conveniences shape daily routines today.

• NCCA Curriculum Specifications
• NCCA: Primary - Life, Society, Work and Culture in the Past
• NCCA: Primary - Myself and my Family

• 30–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Simulation Game
• 45 min · Small Groups

Role-Play: A Day in the Cottage

Assign roles like peat cutter, water fetcher, and cook. Students follow a sequence: gather 'peat' (blocks), carry 'water' (buckets), and stir 'stew' (pots). Debrief with shares on hardest tasks. Rotate roles midway.

Explain the daily routines and chores of a child living in a thatched cottage long ago.

Facilitation Tip

During the Role-Play activity, assign roles based on real historical accounts to ensure accuracy and depth in students' understanding of daily tasks.

What to look for

Provide students with three images: a modern kitchen, a historical cottage hearth, and a child carrying water. Ask them to write one sentence comparing the effort involved in a chore shown in the historical cottage versus the modern kitchen, and one sentence explaining why a well was essential.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 02

• Simulation Game
• 30 min · Pairs

Tool Design Challenge

Provide recyclables like sticks, string, and cloth. Students sketch then build a tool for a chore, such as a turf stacker. Test prototypes and vote on most useful. Connect to real historical inventions.

Predict the challenges and advantages of living without modern conveniences like running water or central heating.

Facilitation Tip

For the Tool Design Challenge, provide only natural or simple materials to mimic historical constraints and limit access to modern tools.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'Imagine you had to collect all your water from a well and chop your own fuel for the fire. What are two challenges you would face?' Students write their answers on mini-whiteboards or paper to share with the class.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Simulation Game
• 35 min · Pairs

Chore Comparison Chart

List past chores on one side, present on the other. In pairs, add drawings and predictions of feelings. Whole class discusses advantages and challenges, then create a shared mural.

Design a simple tool or household item that would have been useful in a past home.

Facilitation Tip

During the Chore Comparison Chart, have students interview family members about their daily chores to highlight continuities and changes over time.

What to look for

Facilitate a class discussion using the prompt: 'If you could invent one tool to make life in a historical cottage easier, what would it be and how would it work?' Encourage students to explain their design and its purpose.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 04

• Simulation Game
• 50 min · Small Groups

Cottage Model Build

Use cardboard, straw, and clay to construct a thatched cottage interior. Label chores and routines. Groups present models, explaining daily flow from dawn to dusk.

Explain the daily routines and chores of a child living in a thatched cottage long ago.

What to look for

Provide students with three images: a modern kitchen, a historical cottage hearth, and a child carrying water. Ask them to write one sentence comparing the effort involved in a chore shown in the historical cottage versus the modern kitchen, and one sentence explaining why a well was essential.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teach this topic by grounding activities in primary sources such as diary entries or photographs to establish authenticity. Avoid romanticizing the past; instead, use sensory details like smoke in the eyes or wet thatch to immerse students in the experience. Research shows that object-based and experiential learning deepens retention of historical routines.

Students will recognize the relentless labor involved in cottage life, compared to their own experiences. They will also identify community-based solutions to challenges like sourcing fuel and materials, demonstrating understanding through discussion and creative output.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During the Role-Play activity, watch for students who assume cottage life was simpler because it involved fewer modern devices.

  During Role-Play, have students time their chores and calculate total hours spent each day on tasks like fetching water or tending animals. Compare their results to modern routines to highlight the relentless physical effort required.

• During the Cottage Model Build activity, watch for students who believe past families lived comfortably without hardship.

  During Cottage Model Build, provide damp sponges or spray bottles to simulate rain and have students observe leaks or structural weaknesses. Discuss how these conditions affected daily life, such as the need for constant repairs or smoke-filled homes.

• During the Tool Design Challenge activity, watch for students who assume tools were just for work, not play or community.

  During Tool Design Challenge, require students to include a 'play' or 'social' feature in their tool design, such as a game carved into the handle of a tool or a multi-purpose item for sharing among neighbors.

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Methods used in this brief

• Simulation Game